Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Woman Mauled By Bear After Rolling Down Her Window To Take A Selfie — ‘I Thought He Wanted To Be Friends’
YourTango ^ | Apr 26, 2024 | Mary-Faith Martinez

Posted on 05/09/2024 1:44:39 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Her experience brings new meaning to the "bear vs. man" question.

While social media users debate if they’d rather be left alone in the woods with a bear or a man, one woman is considering herself “lucky” after surviving a real bear attack.

A Scottish tourist was mauled by a bear in Romania.

Friends Moira Gallacher and Charmian Widdowson were visiting the Carpathian Mountains when they encountered a group of bears, according to Scottish news outlet STV.

Widdowson said, “We saw these bears — a mummy bear and a baby — they were gorgeous.”

What the women didn’t know was that trying to take pictures with the bears would lead to an almost deadly situation.

“We were in the car, and we were going to take a picture,” Gallacher stated. “And the bear came up to the window.”

As the women were driving through the mountains, they found a safe spot to pull off the road and stop. Once they did, they tried to take pictures with the bears.

“So I went down the window to take a good picture. I thought he wanted to be friends,” Widdowson said.

Unfortunately, the bear wanted anything but.

“The bear came and wanted to get into the car, but he started getting into the car and bit my friend,” she explained.

Widdowson is convinced that the bear attacked her friend because they were talking about food.

“My friend said, let’s get something to eat … And I think he heard it and decided he had to eat my friend instead,” she said.

Gallacher, who is recovering at a local Romanian hospital, said she credits her survival to the “thick, padded” jacket she was wearing.

STV noted that Romania has “Europe’s largest population of European brown bears.”

The National Park Service said “bear attacks are rare.”

According to the National Park Service, bear attacks do not occur frequently. In fact, “most bears do not want to attack you; they usually just want to be left alone.”

Bears do not typically attack unless they’re provoked or made to feel unsafe themselves.

Perhaps this explains why so many women would rather be stuck in the woods with a bear than with a man.

The question has been circulating around social media: Would you rather be alone in the woods with a bear or a man?

Most women have said they would rather be alone with a bear in the woods.

Bears are more predictable. They don’t tend to randomly attack. Men, on the other hand, do.

This attack may give people some pause. Bears may not be as docile as it was assumed. However, they still have less terrible tools at their disposal than men do. As one woman said in a TikTok comment, “The worst a bear can do is kill me.”

Despite having a run-in with a bear, Gallacher is still better off than she would be with many men.

Gallacher is certainly not blessed to have been attacked by a bear, although she is fortunate it wasn’t worse. She only sustained injuries to her arm.

While this incident was undoubtedly terrifying for the pair of friends, they were still better off than many women after encountering a strange man.

According to RAINN, “Every 68 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted.” One in six women has been attacked by something much worse than a bear.

Gallacher’s experience with this bear is a sobering reminder that some of the things that scare us are worse than others, and what seems like the worst-case scenario to society as a whole isn’t always really the worst thing that can happen.


TOPICS: Local News; Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: attack; bear; bearattack; bearrepublic; bears
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-53 next last

1 posted on 05/09/2024 1:44:39 PM PDT by nickcarraway
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

I’m hearing the voice of Archie Bunker...


2 posted on 05/09/2024 1:45:40 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

She’s now a Darwin Award recipient.


3 posted on 05/09/2024 1:49:56 PM PDT by Macho MAGA Man (The last two weren't balloons. One was a cylindrical objects Trump is being given the Alex Jones tr)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Steely Tom

In that situation, you need to demonstrate to the bear that you are friendly by cuddling the cubs first.


4 posted on 05/09/2024 1:51:00 PM PDT by GMMC0987
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

“Widdowson is convinced that the bear attacked her friend because they were talking about food.

“My friend said, let’s get something to eat … And I think he heard it and decided he had to eat my friend instead,” she said.”

Funniest thing I’ve read all day!


5 posted on 05/09/2024 1:51:50 PM PDT by plain talk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway
Despite having a run-in with a bear, Gallacher is still better off than she would be with many men.

What's that supposed to mean????

6 posted on 05/09/2024 1:55:19 PM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard (When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Opinionated Blowhard

Despite having a run-in with a bear, Gallacher is still better off than she would be with many men.
~~~
What’s that supposed to mean????
~~~

The kind of woman who thinks a bear just wants to make friends probably has zero wits about bad men either, and is probably a magnet for them.


7 posted on 05/09/2024 1:58:23 PM PDT by z3n (Kakistocracy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: z3n

she chose the bear.


8 posted on 05/09/2024 1:59:08 PM PDT by teeman8r (Armageddon won't be pretty, but it's not like it's the end of the world or something )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

The world would be a better place if more stupid people were eaten by bears.


9 posted on 05/09/2024 1:59:32 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (It's not "Quiet Quitting" -- it's "Going Galt".)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Macho MAGA Man

In this case removing her from the gene pool is probably a good idea.


10 posted on 05/09/2024 2:01:33 PM PDT by srmanuel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway
What is worse is women like this knothead vote.
11 posted on 05/09/2024 2:01:37 PM PDT by kickstart ("A gun is a tool. It is only as good or as bad as the man who uses it" . Alan Ladd in 'Shane' )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy
The world would be a better place if more stupid people were eaten by bears.

I'm not saying we should kill all the stupid people. I'm saying we should remove all the warning signs and let the problem sort itself out.

12 posted on 05/09/2024 2:03:05 PM PDT by IYAS9YAS (There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Hey look BooBoo, a drive-thru window!


13 posted on 05/09/2024 2:06:44 PM PDT by bigbob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: plain talk

That’s just dumb. Those bears were Romanian. I doubt they spoke or understood Engish.

I mean, how many bilingual bears do you know?


14 posted on 05/09/2024 2:10:03 PM PDT by John Milner (Marching for Peace is like breathing for food.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Macho MAGA Man
She’s now a Darwin Award recipient.

Still alive, and apparently not sterilized as a result of the attack, so no Darwin Award.

15 posted on 05/09/2024 2:10:29 PM PDT by HartleyMBaldwin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: plain talk

“Next time, we’re not going to mention food at all before we roll down our windows.”


16 posted on 05/09/2024 2:11:08 PM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (⭐⭐To the Left, The Truth is Right Wing Violence⭐⭐)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

“Despite having a run-in with a bear, Gallacher is still better off than she would be with many men.”

And we men would also choose most bears over women


17 posted on 05/09/2024 2:11:23 PM PDT by pigeoninthepark
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Macho MAGA Man
She’s now a Darwin Award recipient.

LOL. But no, this idiot is still alive and can reproduce so doesn't qualify.

But she sure tried.

18 posted on 05/09/2024 2:16:25 PM PDT by piytar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: John Milner

Oh man. You took it to another level. You’re killin me.


19 posted on 05/09/2024 2:16:38 PM PDT by plain talk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway
Stupid people do stupid things.

Pictured: Shocking moment polar bear attacks woman who climbed into zoo enclosure


20 posted on 05/09/2024 2:19:41 PM PDT by Fresh Wind (Nothing says "Democracy" like throwing your opponents in jail.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-53 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson